Torrential downpours last week led to the closure of both high school soccer fields in the district, causing turmoil amongst players and coaches alike.
Unfortunately, the closure coincided with the Island Cup, the annual match up between Encinal and Alameda’s soccer teams. As a result varsity games were forced to move to a different site, and JV games were cancelled altogether.
On January 19, MOF, Alameda Unified’s facilities organization informed both athletic directors that the schools’ grass fields would be closed until January 29.
“They said that the fields were too saturated and that if we played on these saturated fields they would get torn up and that it posed a safety hazard to our kids,” said Encinal’s Athletic Director Kevin Gorham.
With both school fields closed, and limited options, the athletics program was able to rent Estuary Park, a turf field, for two games. However, the biggest problem was the time.
“We worked with ARPD and they were able to get us Estuary Park, which is a turf field,” said Gorham. “Unfortunately, it was booked throughout the day. Their only openings were 1-4 p.m. The only way we could host Alameda High was to use Estuary Park, so the decision was made to have the game at 2:00 p.m.”
Having games while school is in session means students will not be able to attend the games.
“The district notified us without any forewarning. We were just told fields were closed,” said Gorham. “They closed the fields but did nothing to find an alternative field. That left both athletic directors scrambling to find another field to play on.”
Despite it being the district’s decsion to close the fields, it didn’t cover the cost of renting Estuary Park.
“They’re not paying for the alternative field,” explained Gorham. “That comes out of [Encinal’s] athletic budget.”
While players expressed their gratitude for the ability to still hold the event, there still was the fact that it was an unfavorable time.
“I think the move was a good idea, Estuary is my favorite field … and I think moving [the Island Cup] was a good idea,” explained Senior Finn Little. “I don’t like it being moved to 2:00 p.m. because that means there won’t be any fans … hopefully some people come through.”
One worry is that the school spirit will be lackluster due to the timing.
“It’s really unfortunate that the game got moved to 2:00 p.m. because it’s always fun to see all the students and parents across the island come support the teams,” said Senior Amy Screechfield.
The women’s varsity match will be on January 25 and the men’ varsity will play on January 26.
